


The Exorcism of Komaru Naegi

by dogtit



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, discontinued, hey remember that time komaru got possessed?, its like that but way worse., ive never seen the dr3 anime and know literally nothing about it, more akin to actual did than whats shown in canon, the touko+syo dynamic is gonna be only a little different here to try and have it like
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-24 01:11:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14344842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dogtit/pseuds/dogtit
Summary: After returning to the remains of Hope's Peak Academy to put to rest the victims of Junko's games, Touko Fukawa finds herself fighting the dead to keep her own hope alive.





	1. canto iii; the vestibule of hell

**Author's Note:**

> THROUGH ME THE WAY INTO THE SUFFERING CITY,  
> THROUGH ME THE WAY TO THE ETERNAL PAIN,  
> THROUGH ME THE WAY THAT RUNS AMONG THE LOST.  
> JUSTICE URGED ON MY HIGH ARTIFICER;  
> MY MAKER WAS DIVINE AUTHORITY,  
> THE HIGHEST WISDOM, AND THE PRIMAL LOVE.  
> BEFORE ME NOTHING BUT ETERNAL THINGS  
> ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE.  
> \-- _Inf. III, 1-11_

Back to where it all began. Or ended. Or a bit of both, even, if one was being technical. 

Komaru knew the importance of duality and balance. Hope and Despair had both saved her a time or two back when Towa City was in the deadlocked grip of Monaca's plans. Thankfully she'd had Touko there; for such a grumpy cynic, Touko's blunt honesty and vicious courage could summon up enough optimism in its own roundabout way. Komaru liked to think that her own simple worldview had helped, too, but it was always hard to tell. Especially now, as she stood with a scattering of Future Foundation agents, along with her big brother, and his friends, staring up at the dilapidated remains of Hope's Peak Academy. 

It gave her the creeps just being near it. Shivers ran up and down her spine. Her body moving automatically, impulse burned into her nerves and muscles from a year and a half's time spent fighting, Komaru drifted closer to Touko and reached out. Her fingertips snagged the loose, admittedly filthy shreds of Touko's sleeve; Komaru was only a little surprised when Touko gently jerked out of her grip to replace cloth with skin, her hand filling Komaru's own and gripping tight. Her nails, short and blunt and ragged from anxiety, dug into the back of Komaru's hand. She didn't mind; it was a big step for Touko to be taking her hand at all, in front of so many others, with Byakuya just a short ten feet away.

"Well," began Makoto, inhaling deeply and letting it out with a ragged sigh. "We can't just stay out here all day." 

"Indeed." Byakuya crossed his arms over his chest, giving the building of nightmares an unimpressed once over. 

"We'll only be in and out," said Aoi Asahina, halfway behind Kyouko Kirigiri. Komaru could see her legs trembling, the green tinge of her cheeks. "We're just...here for the...the--"

"The remains," finished Kyouko. She swallowed hard. "They deserve to be put at rest, once and for all. It's all over." 

"Then what are we waiting for?" Makoto took a step forward, then another, until he was walking up the steps that lead into the school. Kyouko was next to follow, Aoi clutching at her back, and Togami was third. 

"Man," Yasuhiro breathed, tugging at the tie knotted loosely around his neck. "I  _knew_ something awful was gonna happen today. I knew it, I knew it..." 

He continued to mutter to himself as he trudged up the stairs, and it was only then that Touko sucked in a hard breath and started after her fellow survivors. Komaru kept hold of her hand, taking and providing support as best as she could. While the ordeals of Towa City and the massacres had left their own deep wounds, she'd had Touko to rely on. Reminded of this, Komaru threw back her shoulders and stepped in time with her friend, until they were side by side on the stairs. 

_This time, I'll be there for Touko_ , she promised to herself, even as the crawling sensation in her spine got worse and her skin grew damp with cold sweat. She squeezed Touko's hand hard to hide how much it wanted to tremble, the other curled into a fist by her hip. Komaru was moderately thankful for her gloves. Pressure grew on her shoulders, and despite herself her steps slowed. She tried to keep up with Touko's pace, but it was like walking through thick water. 

Like the school itself was trying to repel her. Or warn her. A hard exhale left her chest as her heart began to race in earnest the closer she got to the entrace, until Touko stepped over the threshold--and Komaru found that she couldn't. She was frozen on the final step, eyes staring wide into the dimly lit gloom. Something groaned, indistinct; the building? Komaru hoped so, knew it even. But even then...

She inhaled through her nose. Smelled smoke. The putrid scent of something rotten, something old. There was a low, angry buzz in her ears, growing louder as she stared listlessly at the cavernous opening of Hope's Peak.  

"Komaru?!"

Komaru startled with a wheeze, realizing that Touko had come back from the threshold to take hold of her shoulders, shaking her a little with her free hand. The other, Komaru noticed, still held her own, only now it bordered on crushing, and Touko's expression was desperate. 

"W-wha--what? Huh?" Komaru blinked, panting slightly. 

"I-I've been calling your name for a minute or two now." Touko's chapped lips pursed, expression furious. "Have you just been ignoring me on purpose?"

"No, I--I'm sorry. I just got a really weird..." She looked over Touko's shoulder to the entrance again, wincing. "You didn't...hear anything? Did you?" 

"Just the o-others." 

"Oh," Komaru muttered. She dragged the back of her hand over her eyes, then her forehead, sucking in air desperately. "I-I'm sorry, Touko, I really am. I guess I just...got...scared." 

"...Yeah," Touko said. "Yeah, I get it. I'm not...so keen to get back in there myself. But I'm right beside you." 

"Right," Komaru agreed, shaking her fuzzy head. "Yeah. I-I'm with you, too."

They lingered close together for a heartbeat more, Touko giving her a little smile--one of those little genuine ones that Touko reserved only when they were alone like this--and then, step in step, they moved for the door. It was hard, and the panic was rising in her throat, choking her,  _killing her_ \--

But they crossed the threshold together. And the further they went in, the easier it got. Like all the pressure was...gone. No, Komaru thought, just shifted. Now it surrounded her, like an unwanted embrace. All the moisture in her mouth fled, and she opened her mouth to rasp that maybe she could just, wait outside or something.  _I'm sorry_ , she'd say,  _but there's something here, something bad, something_ \--

"Fukawa," came Byakuya's commanding voice from the depths of the school, echoing against the empty walls, "come here." 

"Coming, Master!" And just like that, Touko's hand was ripped out of her own, her friend rushing away from her to follow Byakuya's call. Komaru's arm remained stretched out towards her, weakly, as she was left alone. The last thing she saw of Touko was her smile; warped, like she'd fallen under a spell. Komaru supposed that was accurate, in a sense.

No matter all they'd been through, no matter how much Komaru showed that _she_ really cared, that  _she_ admired and liked Touko for who she was, Touko was going to choose Byakuya time and time again. Byakuya, the smug and cruel man who'd never give Touko what she needed and--

The sudden, bitter turn of her thoughts startled Komaru; she drew her arms close to her chest, frowning. "That was...weird," she muttered out loud, taking a halting step to follow Touko. 

She'd never held bitterness like that before. She couldn't; Touko had been frantic at the beginning of their friendship alone, panicked that she'd lose out her first--her  _only_ \--friend because she cared for Byakuya a different way and didn't know the difference. And besides, Touko cared about them both just as strongly! Komaru knew that! When presented with the chance to be with Byakuya, if it involved giving up on Komaru, Touko didn't take the route. 

_So why did I just...think about Touko like that?_

She looked down. Blinked, noticing a thick mist swirling around her ankles. "H-huh? Wait, when did it get--" 

Komaru turned around to the entrance to find the source of the mist, and felt herself seize with horror. 

She couldn't see them clearly, at first. Just saw the blood, stark and bright against shadows. Large, and small, some more bloodied than others--from the smoke rising from one tattered silhouette,  _burned and charred_ \--ghosts. Komaru's breath caught in her throat and she felt her body start to tremble. The humming was back, the buzz in between her ears unbearable; she felt like she was underwater, sunken deep, the pressure enough to pop her ears. She heard nothing, could  _feel_ nothing, until colder than cold hands skimmed against her skin through her clothes. 

A woman's hands. Long nails. Dragging up her back with a slow, overly-familiar caress that seemed to sear Komaru to the bones with disgust. And yet she was frozen in her own skin, her muscles locked tight, the pressure crushing her. She could scarcely breathe and those cold hands were sliding over her shoulders, tracing down her sides, petting her,  _measuring_ her. 

_Not bad_ , came the whisper against her ear, fetid and sharp like knives.  _I can work with this. You're receptive, aren't you? Hey, let's play another game, what do you say?_

The hands seized against her ribs, gripping the bones like handles, and Komaru jerked with a low moan of fear, an animal sound that ripped out of her strangled throat. The shadows at the entrance writhed as one, coming closer. They were draped in black and white, streaked with red--familiar, somehow--and then the hands clenched tight against her, her ribcage felt split open, a set of doors propped wide to the very pit of her. 

The darkness yawned open and swarmed to her. All at once came a cacophony of voices, howling in pain, in fury, silent in sacrifice, dyed a deep sable in despair. Komaru felt the knife in her stomach, the rods impaling her. She felt her skull concave under barbells and hammers, her body pummeled and seared to the bone before it all liquefied, poison dripping down her throat. And still those hands moved over her as the ghosts flooded in, stroking her neck and her hair, palming her throat to feel her screams. 

_That's it_ , it cooed. _Good girl. An ordinary girl like you can handle much, much more despair than this, can't you?  Ah, your expression...It's giving me chills!_

Something draped over her entire body, sinking into her skin. A thousand needles. Her knees collapsed and she fell to her back, her body twisting. Komaru recognized this sinking feeling--the same numbness that had followed her attempts to break Monaca's controller. The same emptiness that had almost swallowed her up before Touko had slapped the sense into her. The same fullness from when she'd been cursed by Monaca's father. 

She was falling, Komaru knew, out of her body or maybe deeper still, chased by foreign voices who howled and mourned. Deeper than she'd been before; pushed down by a dozen hands and chained by someone's delighted laughter. 

_Maybe Monaca was onto something after all_. 

Her screams found shape. Before Komaru fell asleep, she let them tumble free, calling out with the last bit of desperation she had left;

" _Touko!_ " 


	2. canto iv: limbo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _For these defects, and for no other evil,_  
>  _we now are lost and punished just with this:_  
>  we have no hope and yet we live in longing.  
> \--(Inf. IV, 31-45)

Touko could hardly contain herself. 

Sure, she was back in the place that had constituted some of the worst weeks of her life--well, years, but those didn't count, because she didn't  _remember_ all of them that well--and sure, she was a little (very) worried about Komaru, but that seemed to be eclipsed by the momentary rush of being needed by Master. Why else would he have called out for her, after all? Rounding a corner she only vaguely remembered, she came upon Master and the others staring at a nearly insurmountable pile of debris. Apparently the floor above the hallway had collapsed in on itself over the years. 

"Over here," called Asahina. 

The Future Foundation were gathered around a sealed steel door, Kirigiri staring down at a crude printout of the floorplans with a thoughtful expression. 

"It's locked," was what she greeted Touko with, eyes still locked onto the paper. "Sealed, actually." 

"Oh." Touko fiddled with her glasses, eyes darting to Master, to the other survivors, lips twisting into a sour expression. This wasn't...exactly what she'd expected. "Well, what do you want  _me_ to do about it?"

The answer came upon her as Master scoffed lightly, as the handful of free agents began to shift uneasily. Touko couldn't help but watch them watch  _her_ , and recognized their anxious expressions in an instant. It helped that they were palming their belts and reaching into their coats, no doubt for weapons. She hated how they stared, felt her skin crawl at the blatant distrust cast her way; one of them had already closed his hand around a pistol, the dark shine evident in the limited light. 

"Y-you want...her to cut through it," Touko said, softly, her eyes never leaving the gun. 

"Precisely." Master tapped his foot impatiently. "So get on with it."  

 _But_ , she wanted to protest,  _can't you see that one, there? He doesn't trust us. He'll pull his gun on Syo in an instant because I'm afraid and she...she..._

Though they did not share memories, usually, Touko could still feel an internal shift. A silent presence noting the rise of anxiety. Sweat dampened the nape of her neck, and Touko waited for Komaru to speak up on her behalf, to offer her own use with the Future Foundation's technology. Yes, any minute now, Komaru would open her mouth and, in that endearingly simpleton's way of hers, diffuse the tension blanketing the air. Touko found that she could withstand the humiliation of failing Master, because she knew Komaru placed far too much trust and worth in their friendship to ever entertain the idea of being with him; and besides, it meant Syo didn't have to exist in front of these agents and their distrust and their guns. 

The hairs on the nape of her neck rose at the silence, just as Naegi asked, "Wait, where's Komaru? Fukawa, wasn't she with you?"

It felt like something out of a novel, the way it happened. Komaru's voice cracked the air apart like lightning, a shrill and horrified scream; a death call, hoarse at the edges and wet with blood. Touko's heart fell to the soles of her feet as the blood in her very veins turned to ice, and Syo shifted to full alertness. Though she could never share Touko's sight, when it came to Komaru and emotional heights, she could  _listen_ in and make due with that. The stun gun's handle was in the palm of her hand as Touko turned on a dime, flinging her body down the hall and back from where she came. 

To her relief and bile raising terror, the screaming didn't stop. It meant Komaru could still scream, was still alive enough to scream. 

At the desperate call of her name-- _Touko!_ \--she found her own voice raising, cracking, as she put the stun gun to her temples and answered with an equally frazzled, " _Komaru--_ " 

She rounded the corner. The device tumbled out of her slackened fingers as she stumbled, then dropped to her knees. 

Komaru lay writhing on the floor, back arched in a terrible stretch. Her head was thrown back, silent now save for her desperate gasps for air. Her teeth gnashed, lips curled over her gums and eyes open wide, unseeing, rolled so far into the back of her head that Touko could only just barely see the bottom rim of her iris. Komaru's hands were curled into fists and her legs flailed, helpless, until she simply froze and seized up with a harsh wheeze. Touko crawled forward, tears bursting out of her own eyes just at the sight of her friend, and forced Komaru onto her side, back facing Touko; the movement prompted more shakes and spasms and unnatural, inhuman and guttural sounds spewing out of Komaru's throat and passed her gritted teeth. 

A seizure, something oddly clinical in Touko's mind supplied faintly. Maybe she'd researched epilepsy for a book she'd written. 

As if from far away she knew that the others were following her close, Naegi especially. They were shouting; their words were muffled. Even Master's sharp directions were muffled against the soft din of Touko's thundering blood. In an instant, her world had narrowed down to Komaru seizing, helpless, and the undeniable fact that Touko had happily left her behind. Guilt was a tangible noose strangling Touko as she dug her fingers into Komaru's arm, counting the seconds as the fit continued, until it finally,  _finally_ stopped. Komaru's breathing was fast and choppy, but she was  _breathing_ , and the relief nearly made Touko weak with it. 

"Komaru," she choked out, curling a hand around Komaru's shoulder, pulling her into a sitting position, "are you alright?" 

Komaru panted, the same kind of panicked cadence someone who'd nearly died in a dream had, and clutched over her stomach. Patted it over, then rose her hands to touch her own face. A sick wet laugh left her lips, and the sound of it made Touko reel back with horror. 

It wasn't Komaru's voice. 

"It's real," whispered Komaru, pawing over her own face like she was discovering it for the first time. She sounded familiar, and there  _was_ a hint of Komaru's voice just beneath it, but it wasn't  _Komaru_. "Oh my God...oh my God...!" 

The stranger in Komaru's skin turned her head. The pupils of her eyes were wide enough to drown in, and red-tinged droll ran down her chin. A hysterical sob rocked from Komaru's throat as she stood up, woozily. Touko watched in silence, mouth open as she wondered if her heart was ever going to find its place back in her chest. 

"Komaru, lay back down," Naegi ordered from the sides. His voice cracked, "You need to rest, and--" 

" _Makoto."_  

The sound of tearful relief, and the way she'd sobbed his name--Touko choked on her spit as she realized whose voice it was hissing out of Komaru's mouth. And judging by the shellshocked expression on everyone's faces, they did too. A voice like Sayaka Maizono's was hard to forget, even after so many years. Komaru's body lurched toward Naegi and fell upon his front, fists clutched in his blazer as she buried her face in his chest. 

"I'm sorry," sobbed Komaru in Sayaka's voice. "I'm so sorry! I'm so, so sorry. You know I'd never meant to frame you, r-right? Makoto? I just had to get out--I needed to escape! And you promised me...you promised, you promised,  _you promised_." 

Makoto's mouth moved uselessly. His arms hung uselessly at his sides and he began to cry, sucking back air like a dying man would, as if every word was cutting him to the quick. It probably was, Touko reasoned as she gathered her stun gun back into her trembling hands. 

"What the hell is this?" Kirigiri's voice was quiet, but shaken, one hand covering her mouth. 

"I-I...this happened once before, too. But I didn't..." Touko shook her head. "Komaru always said it was a ghost, but that's not...that  _can't_ be..." 

"I know you didn't mean to let me die, Makoto, I know you didn't, you didn't--" Komaru's head snapped sideways, as if slapped, and when she looked back toward Naegi her expression was  _furious_. "You  _son of a bitch!_ " 

Hagakure stammered, "What the--" as Komaru's fist hammered against Naegi's chest and he wheezed, went down like a sack of rice. She followed, straddling his chest, both of her hands wrapped around his neck. "Whoa whoa  _whoa whoa hey! What!?_ " 

"Komaru, stop it!" Asahina wailed. 

"You fuckers! You killed me!" Leon's voice peeled over Komaru's, and Touko nearly retched onto the floor. There was no way Komaru could know any of their voices, their pasts, not her, not like this, not at all. "You voted to fucking kill me! You son of a bitch,  _you killed me!_ " 

The agents moved, finally, two of them grabbing Komaru by her arms and hauling her off of Naegi. She thrashed and raved in their grip, spitting profanities at her brother, at  _all_ of them, senseless. 

"This can't be happening," Hagakure whimpered out loud, rubbing his palms together and raising his hands, as if in prayer. "No way, man, this isn't happening...Ko-chi totally didn't get possessed, did she? Not by, not by them...c'mon...this is just a really bad prank, right?" 

"It's impossible," Master said, but even that seemed false when Komaru continued to rant about executions, voting, the killing game, and Monokuma. Especially since Touko had never shared any of the intimate details, and Komaru's own voice was barely a whisper behind the specter of the others', and her--his? _Their?_ \--fury evident; either she'd lost her mind entirely, or the ghosts of their dead classmates were possessing her. Touko wasn't sure which one was worse, frankly. 

"Motherfuc--" and Komaru went limp midcurse, hanging in the agents' arms like a ragdoll. Touko felt a wail of fright bubble in her throat, and nearly let it pop until Komaru's head rose back up, her expression cold. It happened in seconds, but for Touko, it was all in slowmotion; a foot to an instep to the agent on Komaru's right, followed by an elbow to the gut. Quick hands reached into the stunned woman's blazer, and a gun was pulled free from within. 

The gun swung beneath Komaru's arm. One quick pop, the muzzle tucked against her chin, blood spraying, body falling, and then another to the agent still hanging off Komaru's arm, who ended up missing a chunk of his face. 

A heartbeat's worth of silence. The trigger happy man who'd stared at Touko like she was a monster had his own weapon aimed at Komaru. His finger was curled against the trigger, until there was a newfound hole in his throat, and he tumbled back with a wheezing, choked gargle. Komaru--or just her body, now--went into action, her expression unchanging, every movement too practiced to come from her, and wildly unfamiliar. The last two Future Foundation agents died quickly, if not messily. 

Three minutes. And it was over. Komaru's hands handled the weapon easily, her expression still deadened, eyes twitching. 

"A G22, semi-automatic. Magazine size of fifteen, .40 caliber rounds...not bad." 

Touko succumbed and doubled over with a loud, wet retch; Asahina finally screamed. The person in Komaru's skin seemed to snap out of their quiet moment and looked upon the remaining survivors. 

"Oh. You're still here." Komaru's fingers flew over the gun and the magazine slid out of the weapon with a soft hiss, tossing it aside followed by the weapon. "Were these your men? ...Sorry. Force of habit."

"Ikusaba," Kirigiri finally supplied. Asahina was desperately clinging to her back, face buried in her shoulders as she heaved messy sobs. Kirigiri's pale skin was a shade lighter, and there was a definite tremble to her mouth that she tried to hide behind her hand. "I assume that's who we're speaking to?" 

"That's right."  'Ikusaba' wandered to the fresh bodies, kicking them to their backs. Watching Komaru heartlessly search corpses--having watched her  _make_ them--nearly drove Touko over the edge. Already the world was growing fuzzy at the edges, Syo's presence waiting to enfold her, protect her, from the presumed threat. Touko held back against it as much as she could, keeping her eyes trained on Komaru's face, alien as it was for now. 

 _This is...a dream, right?_ She clutched at her chest, wheezing; she'd never managed to stop crying and now it was making her twice as ugly as usual. Touko knew she wasn't a pretty  _anything_ , much less a crier, knew her face was beetroot red and snot dripped down her chin. Disgusting, thought Touko and she sniffled, swiped at her face with a sleeve, the stun gun clutched against her stomach. The noise brought Komaru's head swinging to her direction. 

Not a dream. Komaru would  _never_ have looked at her with such...nothingness. 

"You should bind her up." From the agents two pairs of silvery handcuffs were collected, and tossed to the ground toward Makoto. "It was a hassle getting here to begin with. It's loud. Everyone's rowdy." 

"What...wh-what do you mean,  _everyone?!_ " Touko spat, finally finding her way to her feet. "What the hell is going on, Komaru?!"

"Not her. Ikusaba." A wince. Swallow. "Bind her wrists. Now." 

Komaru turned, extending her arms behind her. No one moved for a moment, before Master finally took a step forward to collect the handcuffs, linking them together before clamping the opposite sides around Komaru's wrists. There was blood on his fingertips, Touko noted. Red smeared against the mirror-like surface. Staining his shoes too, probably. 

 _Don't look_ , she told herself, keeping her eyes to the back of Komaru's head. 

"Hope you know an Ultimate level exorcist," Komaru said flatly.

"I'm sure we'll  _manage_ ," Master replied evenly.


End file.
